Wishful Thinking all saints finale alternative
by allsaintsfan2010
Summary: It's the day after Von announced her resignation to Frank. Bart/Amy wedding plans; Adam/Charlotte pairing; Steve/Claire pairing; Gabrielle's pregnancy; Von's surprise party
1. Chapter 1

PART ONE

Von and Frank clinked their glasses together. It had been an amazing twelve years.

The next morning, right on the dot of seven, Von entered through the STAFF ONLY door and proceeded to her office. She still had a few days left of work with plenty of filing and home-care visits to make. As she made her way down the main corridor, she caught Frank's furtive smile before returning it with a stern glance. He choked back a chuckle. A rarity in itself. After filling out some paperwork, she filled her bag with supplies from the drug room and began her home-care visits, quite oblivious to the plans Frank was about to make

As soon as Von left, Frank barked across the ED, "Beaumont!"

Charlotte had just entered through the triage entrance with her brief case in one hand and a coffee in another. "What, Frank? I'm on time, in fact," she said glancing at her watch, "I'm half-an-hour early."

"Good, good. Look can you assemble everyone in the common room, now, I need to have a meeting."

"But..."

"Now!"

Gabrielle found herself once again stooping over the toilet bowl. She was nearly fourteen weeks pregnant and the morning sickness was beginning to take a toll on her body. In a flurry to avoid Steve, Frank and Jo's watchful eyes, she fled to her home in the country. For a week she had stayed here helping Ben clean out with the farming chores and cooking. After their father had died, Gabby chipped in on weekends and helped Ben clean out the house.

Last night, she had received a phone call from Frank letting her know about Von's resignation. At first, she was shocked by the sudden news but knew Von needed a well-deserved break. Gabrielle agreed to return back to All Saints, knowing that Frank would want to send her off in style. But before she left, she had to tell Ben about the pregnancy.

Already she had lied to Ben about Steve and her rekindling their relationship after he started working at All Saints. This was not the time to keep yet another secret from her brother - not that she could for much longer! It was possible to guess she was pregnant with a small baby bump showing.

Nervously, Gabrielle walked into the kitchen to find Ben already munching on toast and gulping down a cup of coffee.

"You alright?" he asked in between bites of toast.

"Yeah, fine. Look, Ben, you sure you don't want me to stay for a couple more nights? I can always ring Frank."

Ben waved his butter-knife at her, "Gabs, honestly, I'll be fine. The Samsons' are pitching in and you've cooked up a storm for the rest of the week. Don't worry!" He smiled and squeezed Gabrielle's hand. "You sure you're not trying to hide from Steve, right?" he asked jokingly.

Without warning, she burst into tears. For weeks, Gabrielle had been so emotional over everything - from dropping a fork accidentally to a patient's blood results.

After being comforted by Ben, she managed to stutter, "Ben, I'm - I'm pregnant."

"What? Jesus, Gabs, and you didn't bother to tell me! When did it happen? How many weeks are you? Who's the father?"

Ben made another coffee for both of them while Gabrielle told the whole story.

"So let's get this straight," Ben said setting their coffee mugs on the table. "You told Steve you had decided to have termination without even talking to him about it?"

Gabrielle nodded sadly. Although it sounded so stupid, the main reason she didn't want to have the baby was because she was scared about whether or not Steve and her would get back together and whether it was right. She wondered whether it was like revenge for sleeping with Ashleigh while they were still together. And after all, both Steve and Gabrielle had been through far too much to even try and repair the damage they had both done to their relationship - it was too late.

"What should I do?" Gabrielle asked Ben quietly.

"Do you want to have a baby, Gabs?" Ben stared at her intently.

"... Yeah. I do... I really do." she whispered.

Steve rang the doorbell.

It had been a few months since he and Claire had broken up and after Gabrielle's plan to terminate the baby, he was desperate for some company, at least someone to preoccupy himself then let the urge for alcohol get the better of him.

"Steve," Claire said in astonishment. "Come on in, I was just finishing getting ready for work. You hungry?"

"Thanks," Steve replied and stepped inside. Her home had become increasingly crowded - mostly Bree's things scattered her and there to fill in the empty spaces.

Once both seated on the couch, Steve mumbled, "Look, I know we split up on a low note, but I still care about you and wish we could start over."

Claire gazed at Steve for a long time. "Steve, I know. I was too hard on you and just assumed your actions to be the same as Ian's. If I could, I would take back every word I said against you. Steve, you're a great guy and shouldn't have to be labelled like that."

Steve waved off the apology. He pulled Claire closer and asked, "Can we start again?"

Claire leaned forward until their noses were nearly touching. "Yeah," she murmured "I think we can."

Steve wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her softly.

"Okay is everyone here?" Frank barked across the tearoom. With the exception of Gabrielle and Von, the rest of the ED team had managed to cosily fit into the small room. Bart and Amy had snuggled into a corner of the room still discussing wedding plans. Bree and Jo were leaning against the door's frame, while Steve and Claire sat at the table, holding hands and whispering to each other. Adam and Charlotte, although had been on a couple of dates so far, thought it best to keep their blossoming relationship to themselves for a while.

"Listen, I don't want to take too much of your time, but I have an important announcement - Vlasek! Get in here!" Frank added just as Mike passed the tearoom. Although he was under strict orders not to work, he still hung around the ED nagging Frank and redecorating the MRU headquarters.

Elliot traipsed in after Mike and went to sit with Amy and Bart.

"Right, well now we all are here," Frank started again.

Charlotte butted in, "Wait, where's Von?"

"I think she started her home care visits. I saw her walk to the car park," Bree said.

"I can see her! She's getting into her car. Hey, Von!" Bart knocked on the window waving frantically at Von's car.

"Shut up!" Frank bellowed. "Homer, Von's the reason I need to talk to you all."

Everyone looked up in astonishment.

"Now as we all know, Von has been working at All Saints for a very long time, and last night she gave in her resignation."

"WHAT?" Everyone said in unison.

"I know, so she asked me not to tell you all, so keep this under your hats, alright? This is her last week and I thought maybe we could all keep Friday night free to have a surprise party."

"Bart, cancel dinner," Amy ordered.

"Yeah, I'll call Zach's babysitter and ask her to stay on Friday night," Charlotte said.

"We can go away on Saturday instead," Claire said to Steve.

"Now listen," Frank said, "I've already spoken to Jaeger about this, but I thought about inviting some past members of staff who were close to Von for a kind of reunion."

At this, Charlotte, Bree and Bart stood up. "Who?"

"That, you will find out on Friday night when you meet them," Frank said grinning.

Charlotte said to Bree and Bart, "I'll call Gabrielle. She'll know."

"Gabrielle doesn't know and anyway she's coming back today," Frank said.

"Is she alright, Frank? She hasn't been herself lately," Adam said.

"She didn't say much, but I think she's okay."

Frank glanced at Steve. He had been avoiding Frank's eyes and kept talking to Claire. At that point, Frank and Jo also looked at each other. Frank had a feeling she knew something and Jo nodded, understanding.

"We need to talk," she mouthed at Frank.

Glaring at the rest of the ED team, he yelled, "Well, what are you all waiting for? Get back to work!"

Jo followed Frank into his office. She closed the door behind her before taking a seat. "So how is Gabrielle?"

"I have no idea. She kept skirting the topic when I asked her," Frank replied.

"How did you find out?" he asked.

"Steve caved and told me. I only half the story about Gabrielle and Steve so I'm not too sure whether I got the facts straight," Jo said.

"So what do you know?"

"Well, Ben told me and Mike when he got his arm caught in the spreader. He said Gabrielle and Steve had been together for a long time and he wasn't too sure how or why they had broken up."

"Apparently, Steve slept with Gabrielle's best friend while they were together," Frank said quietly.

"That must've destroyed her," Jo replied. "Was this when Steve was an alcoholic?"

"When Steve started working here, he still was one. And that was a couple of years after they split up. They got back together for another few months before Steve decided to give up drinking. Mind you, Gabby stood by his side the whole time."

Jo whistled. "It must have been so hard on Gabrielle, poor thing. She didn't deserve that. No-one does."

"To right you are. But now what I'm concerned about is Steve and Claire. When did this all happen?" Frank asked, bewildered.

"I'm not too sure, but it must have happened only a couple of days ago. After Gabrielle told Steve she was terminating pregnancy..."

"What?" Frank said. "She didn't even talk to Taylor about all this?"

"I know, that's what got me too. He must have hurt her pretty bad to decide this on her own. Because when Steve told me they were going to have a kid, he seemed pretty chuffed about it." Jo said.

"I reckon there is more to their history than we know," Frank said.

"Yeah I agree with you. Do you reckon that's why Gabrielle went away for a week, because of the termination?"

"From what I saw, Gabby was all over the shop," Frank said remembering the near-nervous breakdown she had.

"Okay, I'll try and squeeze some more out of both of them and let you know," Jo said standing up.

"Yeah, thanks Jo. One thing is for sure, they need to talk about this before it's too late. God, I hope it isn't," Frank said gravely.

Jo smiled weakly and headed out the door. It was time to find out the real story behind Steve and Gabrielle.

As the day wore one, the ED team were kept on their toes. Jo and Bree were called out on three emergencies, while the rest of the team treated the casualties. In between patients and breaks, they found time to talk about Von's resignation.

"I can't believe she's leaving," Charlotte said to Bree and Bart. Them, Frank, Gabrielle and Mike had been working at All Saints for a number of years and had grown very close to Von.

"Yeah, I know. Von's always been there for me," Bart said remembering the times he struggled with Frank as an intern and his former girlfriend, Ann-Marie and her deterioration.

"I tried to find out who's coming from Frank," Bree said to no-one in particular.

Both Charlotte and Bart turned to stare at Bree.

"And?" they both asked.

"He told me to bugger off, of course." They all three rolled their eyes.

Although they were sad about Von's leaving, they were so excited about meeting up with their past friends.

At reception, Steve and Claire were getting cosy in the drug room. "Maybe, we should go to the Hunter Valley, this weekend," Claire murmured between kissing Steve.

"Yeah," Steve mumbled, "Sounds good."

At the same moment, Adam knocked at the door and said, "You two, you're both needed in re-sus."

Steve and Claire grinned at each other and went back outside.

Gabrielle hugged her brother one last time. She had packed the car with her few clothes and a sandwich for the way home.

"Gabby are you sure this is what you want?" Ben asked. He was still concerned about her uneasiness - which was not like her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"As soon as you get to the hospital go and tell Steve," he reminded her. "Not that he won't notice. It looks like you've been on an eating frenzy," he added.

Gabrielle laughed and said, "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole ED turned up demanding questions!"

"See you next weekend, Gabs," Ben waved as she reversed out of the driveway. "Good luck!"

Gabrielle waved back and drove off. She turned on the radio to her favourite song. Everything was going to be alright. She and Steve were going to be parents.

to be continued... Would love to hear feedback! :) I've got the next chapter pending depending on whether you guys like the story!


	2. Chapter 2

PART TWO

Von grabbed her morning coffee before entering the ED for the final time. She had spent most of her life walking through these doors, treating patients, smoking cigarettes and providing follow-up care for both patients and their families.

She walked through the doors and nearly bumped straight into Frank.

"You're late," he said grumpily.

"So are you."

"Sad?" he asked.

Von stared back with a slight twinkle in her eye. "This place should fall over the minute I step outside these doors."

"Over my dead body!" Frank bellowed.

"Have a nice day, Frank." she said and walked in her office.

Gabrielle tore into the ED. After arriving home early yesterday, she decided to buy herself a slightly looser top and a size bigger jeans. Ben was right - she was starting to have trouble fitting into her uniform. Just as she was heading into the tea room to dump her bags, she met Bart at reception.

"Hi Gabrielle. You feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah, much better, thanks Bart. What have I missed over the week?"

"Jaeger! What the hell are you doing here?" Frank yelled.

"I'm here because you rang me two nights ago telling me a certain nurse was resigning," she replied in an undertone. "And, I do work here," she added like an afterthought.

"Well, then, work with Homer off the floor today. A patient has presented with an uncommon illness and needs a bit of research into it."

"Why, Frank? I need to assign nursing duties and work on rosters," Gabrielle argued.

"Well the nurse filling in for you is working today and you're one day early back. So if you've got a problem with not getting paid today either go help Bart, yell at Admin or go to bed and rest!"

"Fine! Bart, lead the way. What have we got?" Gabrielle was in no fit state of mind to argue with Admin, let alone Frank. She also felt slightly off colour but wanted to stay at work and catch Steve.

"Well, I've already sent him up to a ward while I wait for test results. His name is Morgan Brown. 24 year old male with a sustained head injury from a car accident. He's in a stable condition but the real problem is that he has a combination of two different blood types and we're not sure why."

They sat down at the table in the tea room where Bart had planted all his medical textbooks and was ploughing over notes and microscopes.

"Pathology taking their time?" Gabrielle asked, nodding towards the microscope and blood samples.

"Yeah, thought I should take matters into my own hands," Bart said smiling.

"Spoken like a true doctor. Let's make a start," Gabrielle said. "So what's been happening around here? I go home for a couple of days and come back to find the best nurse of this hospital resigning! What else has been going on?"

"Amy and I are engaged!"

"Oh my gosh, congratulations!" Gabrielle squealed and hugged Bart. "I can't believe you didn't tell me before."

"Yeah, it kind of just happened. I proposed a couple of nights back."

"Where is she now?" Gabrielle asked.

"Last time I saw her she was with Eliott in triage."

Gabrielle didn't wait for the rest. She bounded up to Amy and hugged her. "Congratulations! I'm so happy for both of you. Let's see the ring, it's gorgeous!"

Charlotte entered with Adam through the main entrance. They happened to arrive at work together and were talking about the surprise party tonight. Over the past day or so, as Frank had requested, Adam browsed through some of Von's photo albums and videos and picked out her earlier memories at All Saints. He later put them together into a powerpoint for the party.

"So do you know who's coming?" Charlotte asked Adam.

"Charlotte I know as much as you do, if not less. Apparently Bart thought he heard Frank talking to Zoe Gallagher, but he's not sure," Adam replied.

Since Zoe had started at All Saints, she and Charlotte had been rivals from day one. But after being promoted to director of medicine at St Angela's, Charlotte's hatred had lapsed and they both were able to move on from their persistent conflict.

Just as they reached the front desk, Frank yelled from the other end of the ED, "Beaumont and Rossi, stop bickering and find a patient!" They both grimaced at each other before being assigned to two patients.

Gabrielle stepped out of the lift and pushed open the door of the MRU. She found Mike and Jo lounging around on the sofa and drinking coffee.

"Hey Gabrielle," Jo said. "How are you feeling?"

"Better thanks, nearly back to normal." Gabrielle smiled.

She was wearing a leather jacket which made it harder for Jo to decipher whether Gabrielle was still pregnant.

"Is Steve around?" she asked casually.

"Last time I saw him he was with Claire outside," Mike replied oblivious to the happenings over the last couple of weeks.

Gabrielle maintained a blank expression and said, "Never mind, I'll catch him later." She stalked out into the lobby and back into a lift.

Had Steve gotten back together with Claire? In amidst her thoughts, Gabrielle received a memo from Frank: "Meeting in tea room now." She pummelled the lift button for the ground floor.

"Frank and his bloody meetings," she muttered under her breath. She looked down at her growing stomach and straightened her jacket. She wasn't so sure about the pregnancy anymore.

By the time she got back down to the tea room, everybody else was assembled in there and Frank had already started his lecture on discipline and ethics. Gabrielle decided to make a detour to the bathroom with a sudden urge of morning sickness building up. She took her time.

After flushing the toilet she stared in the mirror at her face. It was obvious she had been unwell: watery eyes, puffy cheeks and reddened nose. Her pager beeped again: "Gabrielle where are you?"

Finally she unlocked the bathroom door and headed towards the tea room. Gently she turned the handle and entered.

"Nice of you to join us, Jaeger," Frank barked. "Where've you been?"

Gabrielle didn't bother to retort and instead went to sit next to Elliot and Adam.

"Are you alright, Gabrielle?" Adam whispered.

She looked terrible. "Never felt better!" she replied sarcastically.

Furtively, she stole a glance at Steve who had been watching her. As soon as their eyes met, he turned away.

Meanwhile, Jo and Frank were both watching Gabrielle and Steve. They both raised their eyebrows and frowned at each other. Something was not right.

Frank began, "Now as we all know, it's Von's last day and I thought I would confirm the arrangements for tonight. You must all be at the restaurant by 6.30. I'll be arriving with Von at 7. Park all your cars on the side street, not in the car park! And try to car pool, there is limited parking and petrol's gone up today."

Gabrielle could feel vomit building up in her throat again. She wasn't feeling too good - she felt dizzy. She sunk lower into the sofa and took a few quiet, deep breaths.

"Rossi! Do you have the powerpoint ready?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, it's ready to rumble. The photos and video clips I've found are hillarious. The things Von has caught you all doing." Adam laughed.

"Wait, hang on! What do you mean?" Bart demanded.

"You'll see," he smiled.

"So who's going to be there, Frank?" Bree asked.

Frank grimaced and said, "Do I look like I'm going to tell you - a few surprises."

Charlotte turned to Gabrielle and asked, "Gabs, do you know?"

At this point, Gabrielle was ready to explode. She was gripping onto the arm of the sofa in an attempt to stop the nausea.

"Yeah, come on Gabrielle, open up! You haven't said a word since you got here," Bart urged.

She shook her head, feeling a pounding sensation resonating off the side of her head. With the whole room staring at her she managed, "I have no idea."

"Yeah right, Gabrielle. Come on, tell us!"

"Is it true Zoe's coming?"

Gabrielle stood up. She pushed past Mike and Bree who were half-blocking the door frame and raced out the door.

"What the hell was that?" Bree asked.

At the same moment, the phone in the tea room began to ring.

"Yep, sure, she's right here." Bart said into the receiver just as Gabrielle walked back in.

"Gabrielle, a Ryan Patton for you."

Both Gabrielle and Steve looked up at Bart. Ryan was an old mate of theirs from their home town.

"Shit," Gabrielle thought. She had completely forgotten about cancelling her termination she had organised with his clinic. Steve, on the other hand, was almost shaking with anger. Ryan was the only practicioner in the town that performed safe abortions.

Hesitantly, Gabrielle answered the phone. "Hey, Ryan!... yeah ... right. ... I'll send it by mail ... yes, I'm sure ... thanks. Bye."

By this point, everybody had returned to their patients except one. Gabrielle could see a shadow moving behind her as she placed the phone back. She turned slowly.

"Ryan Patton?" Steve half-growled.

"Steve..."

"Forget it." He turned and stalked back outside.

"Hey can you two do a huge favour for me?" Charlotte burst through the tea room doors. It was almost four o'clock and there were still a few hours to go before the farewell dinner for Von. Bart and Gabrielle were still testing blood samples and waiting for pathology to send through confirmation of their diagnosis.

"Sure, what's up?" Gabrielle asked.

"Well, Frank's asked me to do an extra half an hour – admin need our final budget for the year by tomorrow morning! Do you mind looking after Zac for a little while?"

"Course, we will," Bart said smiling at Zac. "We'll have fine, won't we?"

Zac nodded.

Almost forty-five minutes later, Bart lay on the sofa dead to the world while Zach had cuddled up on Gabrielle's lap while she read 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'.

"At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was hungry. She tasted the porridge from the first bowl.

'This porridge is too hot!' she exclaimed

So she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.  
'This porridge is too cold,' she said.

So she tasted the last bowl of porridge.

'Ahh, this is just right,' she said happily and ate it all up."

At that moment, Steve and Claire walked in for their afternoon break.

"What a nightmare!" Claire said. "Want a cup of tea, Steve?"

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks," he replied.

They both found a mess of building blocks scattered across the floor, toy cars and trucks and soft toys jumbled around Bart's body with a puppet still on one hand. Gabrielle had plonked herself on the floor cross-legged with Zach. As soon as they walked in, Steve immediately wanted to back out except Claire had already gone and put the kettle on and found two mugs. Fortunately, Gabrielle's back was toward the door and kettle.

While they waited for the kettle to boil, Claire leaned into Steve and caress his cheek and trace the lines along the palm of his hand.

"Isn't that so cute?" Claire whispered to Steve nodding toward Gabrielle and Zach.

Steve grimaced and turned back to the kettle.

Gabrielle kept reading, ignoring the fact Steve was in the room and was thankful she had her back to him and Claire.

"They decided to look around some more and when they got upstairs to the bedroom, Papa bear growled, 'Someone's been sleeping in my bed.'

'Someone's been sleeping in my bed, too,' said the Mama bear

'Someone's been sleeping in my bed and she's still there!' exclaimed Baby bear.

Just then, Goldilocks woke up and saw the three bears. She screamed, 'Help!' And she jumped up and ran out of the room. Goldilocks ran down the stairs, opened the door, and ran away into the forest. And she never returned to the home of the three bears."

"The end!" Zach yelled.

At the same time, Charlotte walked in. Bart jumped up.

"Hey, I'm so sorry. I got caught in re-sus and then I had to file a whole stack of Frank's reports. You ready to go Zach?"

"Yes, Mummy."

"Okay, what do you say to Gabrielle and Bart for looking after you?" Charlotte asked.

"Thank you Gabby. Thank you Bart."

"Anytime, Zach," Bart replied. Gabrielle glared at him. Bart grinned back.

Gabrielle pulled Zach into a big hug. Lately, her maternal instincts had burgeoned. "See you later, ok?"

Zach, let's clean up first," Charlotte reminded him.

"Charlotte, Bart and I have got this, you go home."

"See you later tonight, Charlotte." Claire said.

Charlotte and Zach walked back out.

Once they had closed the door, Gabrielle stood up and grabbed her bottle of water before settling down at the table and resuming her research with Morgan Brown's mystery illness.

"Bart - clean up!"

"What? Gabrielle - "

"Serves you right, you took credit for looking after him. I honestly can't imagine you and Amy with five kids. One tires you out!" Gabrielle said.

"Parenting comes with practice." he replied. Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

As Bart cleaned up and Gabby read; Claire and Steve were talking quietly between themselves.

"Gabrielle... you know you'd make a great mum," Bart said after a few moments.

"What?" Gabrielle said looking up from her books.

"Today, you were so good with Zach... reading him books, singing songs, feeding him... "

"Yeah, Gabrielle. You and Zach were so cute together... reading to him," Claire added.

Gabrielle had no idea what to say. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wasn't sure about becoming a mum anymore. She saw what Charlotte had to go through when Spence left her and problems she had balancing being a mum and her career. Babies were supposed to be born into the world and into the arms of two parents who would love the baby and loved each other. Not a broken and complex relationship she had with Steve. If you called it a relationship.

Steve was looking down. Gabrielle should have never terminated the pregnancy. It was wrong - it was just a kid.

"Gabrielle?" Bart started. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"What? No, no... you didn't -"

The door slammed open and someone burst into the room and hid themselves behind the cupboard door.


	3. Chapter 3

"What the - " Steve started, but the man motioned for him to keep silent.

Von entered. "So how are you two going with Morgan Brown?" she asked Gabrielle and Bart. "Well - Bart you've had a productive day." Von noticed nodding toward the toy truck and puppet which was still on his hand.

"Yeah, it's been great fun!" Bart laughed.

"Well I'm about to start my last few home-care visits for the day. Anything you would like me to do?" Von asked.

"No thanks, Von. You've done so much already," Gabrielle said smiling.

"Wait, Von. You walking to the car park? I'll walk with you. I'm just about to send these up to pathology," Bart said standing up. "Hopefully they will take less time than usual."

"Don't get you hopes too high, Bart," Gabrielle muttered. "See you, Von."

Bart winked and followed Von towards the ED doors. As Von exited, Bart gave a fleeting thumbs up at Gabrielle and nodded.

Meanwhile, Steve and Claire stared at the cupboard door, confused.

Gabrielle resumed her work before saying, "Coast is clear, Hughes."

Claire and Steve glanced at Gabrielle. There was no response from inside the cupboard. She sighed and walked over to the cupboard.

"Hey stranger!" she greeted Vincent, yanking the door open.

Gabrielle and Vincent hugged each other.

"Look at you!" VIncent said, nodding toward her baby bump.

"So how are you?" Gabrielle asked shaking her head meaningfully. Trust Vincent to figure everything out. Immediately, he understood.

"Yeah, really great! Miss Australia though..."

"Come on, Vincent. You and I both know the reason why you left," Gabrielle said referring to his previous marriage to Charlotte. "How's it going?"

"Well, I got over you," Vincent said jokingly.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Gabrielle said sarcastically.

Steve looked up. Had they been together?

"Vincent!" Bart barged through the room and shook his hand.

"Bart, you've finally learnt my first name - it only took you three years," Vincent said.

"Sense of humour still intact," Gabrielle said. "Jokes are a little tacky."

Vincent frowned. "Thanks for the analysis Gabby."

"So what's been happening with you?" Bart asked. "How's the whole Canada gig going?"

"Bart what more could he ask for? He's moved to Canada, is head of surgery of some top hospital, has his own office with his name on the door and his own desk and chair. He even colour-codes all his files!" Gabrielle said sarcastically. She had paid a visit to Vincent last year and hated it. The snow and wet weather was unbearable.

"Look whose talking! Frank's promoted you to the tea room?" Vincent asked nodding toward the crowded table. "What is this Gabs?"

"Only renting it for the day, Vinny," Gabrielle said.

Bart, Claire and Steve stared at both of them.

"Didn't you both used to hate those names? 'Gabs' and 'Vinny'?"

"Yeah, still do," Vincent said. "Although I have no idea why. Just thought it never suited me. Gabrielle, isn't because your ex used to call you that, that's why you hated it?"

Gabrielle stiffened when she heard this. So did Steve.

"Isn't that what your ex still calls you?" Gabrielle argued in an attempt to avoid answering the question.

Meanwhile, Steve was glaring at Gabrielle. Before, back in the country, everyone knew about the 'Steve and Gab' couple. They were like the Brad and Angelina of Armidale - everyone knew everything about them. Except the break up.

Just then, the phone rang. It was pathology. While Gabrielle picked up the phone, Vincent introduced himself to Claire and Steve.

"Hi," Vincent said, "Vincent Hughes, surgeon. Used to work here for five years."

"Steve Taylor - registrar." They shook hands.

_Oh my God! _Vincent thought. _This is Gabrielle's ex._ When Gabby had first started working at All Saints, she had told Vincent the real reason for leaving the country for the city was because the 'love of her life', a so-called Steve Taylor, had slept with her best friend in their own house and she couldn't bear seeing him again. Vincent had no idea he had started to work here.

"Claire Anderson. So you must go a long way back with Von," Claire commented.

"Yeah, we did. I've known some of these guys, like Gabrielle and Bart for so many years. We all used to be very close..."

"My patient is dying because of your negligence!" Gabrielle slammed the phone back down.

"If violence isn't solving the problem, you're not using it enough," Bart said.

"Bullshit. We've been waiting the whole bloody day, and all they care about is their paint balling night tonight." Gabrielle said.

"Let me try, Gabrielle," Bart offered.

"All yours, Bart." Gabrielle sighed and sat back down in her seat.

"Woah, haven't seen one of those tantrums in a long time, Gabby," Vincent said.

"Don't push it."

"We'd really appreciate it if you did hurry it up, please - hey, they hung up on me!" Bart said.

"I told you. Flattery doesn't get anyone anywhere," Gabrielle muttered.

"I'm going to check on Morgan. Poor guy still has no idea what's going on," Bart shook his head and headed for the lift.

Soon after Bart left, Mike entered the tea room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Vincent.

They both stared at each other and there was an awkward silence. Steve and Claire watched confused.

"Vincent," Mike started.

"Mike."

Another awkward silence.

"Oh, for God's sake can you two for once in your lives leave your bloody pride on the shelf. Kiss, make up, or I'll do it for you," Gabrielle scolded. "You know, you two made our lives miserable... I'd go as far as to say you were nearly as bad as Charlotte and Zoe."

Mike and Vincent's mouths twitched slightly. They walked forward before shaking each other's hand.

"So how's Canada?" Mike asked. "Head of surgery living up to its expectation?"

"Yeah, it's great. Obviously, it hasn't for you. Change of scenery... MRU, right?" Vincent smiled.

"I reckon it's the best move I've made in years."

Bart entered. "No luck." He plonked himself on a chair. "Mike, Frank wants to talk to you."

"Well, best better get a move on. I'll catch you later, Vincent."

"Yeah, see you."

Gabrielle and Bart watched both of them.

Vincent turned around. "Hey! We're not as bad as Charlotte and Zoe, right?"

Bart shuffled his files.

"So where are you staying?" Gabrielle asked.

"Thought I might crash at your place for a few nights... I'm kidding Gabrielle." Vincent laughed at her shocked face. "Probably stay with Charlotte - let me ask her, first."

"Doesn't she know you've come?" Bart asked.

"Didn't want to ruin the surprise for Von... Charlotte usually open her mouth at the wrong time."

Less than ten seconds later, Charlotte walked back into the tea room. "Completely forgot to get Zach's sun hat." she started picking it up from the floor. She hadn't noticed Vincent in the corner. Vincent crept up behind her and covered her eyes with her hands.

"What the - ? Ok this isn't funny."

"Guess who, Charlotte," Gabrielle said smiling.

"There's only one person that ever did that to me. It couldn't be - "

Vincent spun her around to face him.

"Vincent!" Charlotte shrieked. In amidst tears and laughter, Vincent held her close and kissed her on the top of her head. "I can't believe you made it down here!"

"What? And miss Von's priceless reaction when we surprise her tonight? Never."

"Look, can we go and grab a coffee? I've got Zach at the moment. He's with Frank. Gabrielle and Bart, do you guys want to come?" Charlotte said, wiping away tears.

Bart took a step forward, but Gabrielle interrupted. "Nah, we'll catch up with you two later."

They both walked out of the room with their arms around each other's shoulders. Gabrielle, Bart, Steve and Claire watched them walk out.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gabrielle asked.

"She offered us a coffee..."

"You idiot, let them have a moment together. They haven't seen each other in three years!"

"Do you reckon they ever got over each other?" Bart asked Gabrielle.

"... I think they finally have..." she replied.

"You know, it's always hardest to get over your first love..." Bart said.

Gabrielle looked at him. He was thinking about Ann-Maree. She squeezed his hand gently. It was true, you never did get over your first love.

Claire interrupted, "So what's Charlotte and Vincent's story?"

"Ah, that's too long a story," Gabrielle said. "And I need to go and chase up my patient's blood results."

She walked out of the room.

About five minutes later, Gabrielle had not returned yet and Steve and Claire were still on their break. Bart was attempting to clear up the table.

Bree walked in. "Hey," she said.

"Hi Bree," Claire said. "Had a busy day?"

"Yeah, it's been hectic. Steve, you should re-start up the MRU. We need all the help we can get out there."

"Once, it's sunk into Mike that he can't get back on the horse just yet. That'll be the day." he replied.

"Bart!" Bree said. "Hey, I just saw Vincent Hughes outside with Charlotte and Zach. Is he here for the party tonight?"

"Yeah, and decided to come and pay a visit to Charlotte, I'm guessing," Bart said.

"So what's their story?" she asked.

Bart stopped dead. "You don't know?"

"No."

"Bree, are you for real?"

"Oh my God, is it that big?"

"This is amazing. Bree it's like the gossip of the decade and you didn't even know it. Hey Gabrielle!" Gabrielle had just walked back in.

"Guess what? Bree doesn't know about Vincent and Charlotte."

"No. Bree Matthews, I'm surprised."

"You guys are freaking me out. What am I supposed to know?"

"Bree! Where've you been? It happened under your nose the whole time!" Gabrielle mocked.

"So tell me!"

"No," Bart said. "We'll leave you in suspense for a little longer, right Gabrielle?"

"Damn you two," Bree said.


	4. Chapter 4

PART THREE

"Are you sure I should know about this?" Bree asked an hour later. She, Bart and Gabrielle were now alone in the tea room. Steve and Claire had finished up their coffee and returned to the floor.

"Yes," Bart sighed.

"Did they go out?... No, it's gotta be more than that... they had an affair?... Vincent is really Zach's father!..."

"No, no and definitely not," Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

"Now this is a first, Gabrielle Jaeger - not in uniform, in the tea room and sitting down - "

"I think it's perfectly normal for Bart to have an eye down microscopes and Bree as usual harping on about someone else's gossip."

"Hey!"

Gabrielle, Bree and Bart looked up. The two voices were all too familiar - Jack Quade and Cate McMasters.

"Oh my God! Hi!" both Bree and Gabrielle squealed. Bart grinned broadly.

Gabrielle and Jack hugged each other hard. It had been almost a year since they had seen each other and had kept in contact frequently. As Jack held Gabrielle, he felt her firm stomach. He looked down at her stomach and raised his eyebrows. Gabrielle shook her head, warningly. Cate bounced over while Jack, Bree and Bart caught up.

"Look at you," she squealed nodding toward the baby bump. Gabrielle shook her head pleadingly. Immediately, Cate understood.

"You've cut your hair, Cate! And haven't scrubbed up so badly yourself," Gabrielle commented.

Adam stuck his head in the door, "You guys better get upstairs. Frank's on everyone's warpath. He'll go ballistic if he finds you've turned up too. Besides he wants to have a quick meeting in the MRU headquarters about tonight."

"Who's already here?" Jack asked.

"Vincent," Bart said. "He's with Charlotte and Zach having coffee."

"Actually I could really do with a coffee," Jack said.

"Yeah, me too," Cate replied.

"Well can you send Charlotte upstairs too?" Adam asked. "Frank said he would only take five."

"Not a problem."

"Okay, let's have a little bit of shhh..." Charlotte said.

"Right, well I know I've already told everybody of the details, but just so it is patently clear about everything."

"Hey, check this out!" Adam said from the computer.

He put the projector on and flashed the video on the screen on the white board.

"This is some of the clips I found in Von's stash overnight."

"Oh my gosh, these are so old!" Charlotte said, looking through all the video and DVD's.

"And embarrassing," Bart referred to the screen where it was his first shift in the E.D.

He was wearing a white lab coat with his initials on the breast pocket and looking up at Frank tremulously.

"Is that your doc's coat?" Elliot asked laughing.

"Shut up, I reckon it looks sexy," Amy said smiling at Bart.

"Let's skip this bit... hey it's Dan and Ricki's wedding," he said grabbing the remote.

Everyone watched sadly. Such a beautiful wedding. Such a devastating tragedy.

It flicked onto the guard of honour as Dan and Ricki left the reception and then turned to the best man and maid of honour, Jack and Gabrielle.

"Who's the shaky camera man?" Jo asked.

"Homer, unsurprisingly," Frank said sarcastically.

Gabrielle had just entered through the MRU doors as the scene showed Jack and her kissing, and unfortunately, due to his lack of computer skills, it hadn't been cut.

Steve stared at the video awkwardly. Adam wolf-whistled. Charlotte, Mike and Bree cheered.

"About time we saw a little action from those two," Mike commented.

No-one had noticed her enter when Charlotte said, "You know, we all had a pact that Gabby and Jack would get together... and when they were living together... they seemed so perfect for each - ..."

"He's a good kisser, isn't he Charlotte?" Gabrielle walked in and grabbed the remote from the table before forwarding the DVD. She sat down before staring back at Charlotte who had turned slightly pink.

"Oooooh, the tension's rising..." Bree commentated.

Charlotte and Gabrielle stared at each other before they twitched a smile at each other.

"Bree, you don't want to start telling secrets do you?" Charlotte said slyly.

"What secrets have I ever told you?"

"Oh, I don't know, like... who the sexiest male doctor in the E.D is, perhaps," Gabrielle said.

Bree blushed red. "You would not!"

"Oh we so would... past," Charlotte said.

"And present," Gabrielle added.

"Put a sock in it you three," Frank said, flustered. "Right, moving on..."

"So what did happen between you and Jack that night?" Claire asked.

"That would be between Gabrielle and myself," Jack answered.

"Hey!" Jack entered the room with Cate, Vincent, Heath and Zoe tagging behind.

"What the hell are you all doing here?" Frank bellowed.

"Frank, and it's great to see you too," Cate reached up and kissed Frank on the cheek.

"I told you to meet everyone at the restaurant tonight! What if Von saw you all! Do you know the trouble I went to to organise this bloody party!"

"Pleasure doing business with you Frank," Heath said wistfully.

"Uncle Frank! Von's gone home," Amy butted in.

"Amy, I know that, otherwise Von would have joined us by now. Now that I have all of your attention -..."

"So do you guys know anybody else that's coming?" Bree butted.

"SHUT UP!" Mike shouted. Everyone finally shut up.

"Still have it in you, Mike," Cate said as she high-fived him.

"Now, as I was saying... what are you all going to do from now until 6.30?"

"Hey, maybe we could have Jo and Mike over for drinks before tonight," Claire whispered to Steve.

"Yeah, good idea. Mike do you want to drop by at Claire's place before tonight?" Steve asked.

"Thanks for the offer, but I might skip this one, need to help Frank with setting up," he replied.

"And since when have I ever needed help _setting up _from you, Vlasek?" Frank retorted.

"Have you seen your desk?"

"Jo?" Claire asked.

"Sorry guys, Frank asked me to help set up with Adam, Elliot and Amy," she replied apologetically.

Claire had started to get a little irritated. Nobody was willing to come over.

"Bree, you ready?" Claire asked, standing up with Steve and grabbing her bag. Usually Bree, Claire and Steve took it in turns driving to work, and today they had come in Claire's car.

"Errr... sorry Claire, I thought I might hang with these guys until tonight."

Claire was slightly taken aback. Usually Bree liked to hang out with her and chill with a couple of beers on a Friday night.

"Where will you be going then Bree?" Claire asked. "You couldn't be staying here for the whole time. Why doesn't everyone come over to our place?"

"I think we've already planned something."

Gabrielle's phone beeped. It was a text from her mate and gynacologist, Ryan Patton.

w h e n w u d u l i k e 2 h a v e y o u r 1 s t u l t r a s o u n d ?

"So where are you all going?" Frank asked.

Gabrielle replied back.

c o m i n g b a c k 2 f a r m i n 3 w k s . . . t h n x r y a n : )

It had suddenly gone unusually quiet. Gabrielle looked up from her phone to find mostly everyone staring at her.

"No way."

"Come on, Gabrielle, please," Zoe pleaded.

"I've just come back from the farm..."

"What haven't you cleaned up _your pigsty_?" Vincent asked sarcastically. "Gabrielle, your place is always so immaculate!"

"I just got back from the farm, I have no food or drinks!"

"Gabrielle, we always have the best time at your place," Bree added.

"Fine - I never have a choice do I. Bree, Bart, here -" she gave them fifty dollars. "Can you two pick up a couple of beers and something to eat? You lot, give me half an hour tops."

"What you need to tidy your already tidy house?" Jack asked, jokingly.

"Ha ha..."

"Now, that's settled. Jaeger, you're in charge. You are personally responsible for them. Make sure you are on time."

Gabrielle sighed, "Yep."

"So, Gabrielle?" Cate started.

She, Gabrielle, Jack, Zoe and Heath were seated in her lounge, with all four of them playing play station - something they had always done.

"What?"

Who's the luck guy?"

"What do you mean?" Gabrielle said blankly, trying to concentrate on the car she was controlling.

Jack paused the screen. "Come on, Gabrielle. It's pretty obvious. We are all trained as doctors or physicians here."

"Yeah, well no-one besides Frank knows."

"I'm surprised. Would've thought Bart or Charlotte to have worked it out," Heath said.

"Haven't been in all week... morning sickness and I had to help Ben with the farm."

"So who is he?" Zoe asked.

"It couldn't be Steve?" Cate said.

"Isn't he with that other nurse? They were holding hands," Heath said.

"Gabrielle?" Jack asked tentatively.

"Please, don't tell anyone, ok?"

"This story gets better and better!" Cate exclaimed.

"Oh my God, Gabby! Does Steve know?" Heath asked.

"I, er... told him I wanted a termination and I left for a week. When I came back yesterday, I found them together."

"Bloody hell. Gabby, did you think this through... you know having a baby and all is pretty serious stuff," Jack said.

"Like you would know," Zoe said.

"Hey, when Charlotte got pregnant, I was so tense... and the miscarriage was even more traumatising."

"You two had a baby?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, by accident, obviously. But the only way me and Charlotte got through it was by sticking together. I mean, at first, we had our moments... we had both just been dumped and were extremely drunk. But we made it work for each other... we started to go to ultrasounds together and just got to know each other. We didn't neccessarily feel we had to be in a relationship... just be there for the baby and ourselves."

"Gabrielle?" Heath asked, reaching out and rubbing her shoulder, "You ok?"

"You know, I thought this was it for me and Steve... another chance..."

"What you need to do Gabrielle, is to talk to him. Don't leave it until it's too late," Zoe said.

They heard two cars pull up in the driveway.

"Finally," Cate said.

"About time, I'm starving!" Heath said, delving into Bree and Bart's shopping bags and pulling out packets of chips and cartons of beer.

"Wait, who's planning on driving?" Bree asked.

"I don't mind," Gabrielle said casually.

"Yeah, I've got an early start tomorrow," Zoe said. "St. Angela's Board meetings galore!"

"Okay, everyone - cheers!"

"To what?"

"To Von!"


	5. Chapter 5

Hi everyone

Just giving you an update on Wishful Thinking.

This is like a promo before the next episode... anyway

Next time on Wishful Thinking:

It's finally here... Von's surprise farewell party! And there are more surprise returns... he makes the same grand entrance he made when he first arrived, they were the couple made in heaven, and let's just say this person was everyone's favourite nurse...

Frank rocks up an amazing reunion with fun, laughter, and "bloody good memories".

Bart reveals his past to Amy...

What happens when Adam finds out about Charlotte and Vincent's past?

Claire's jealousy rises

The tension is raised between Gabby and Steve when his secret is revealed in front of everyone...

Please, please, please review! I promise the next chapter will be more interesting :) Let me know what you think will happen in the next couple of chapters... trust me, it will surprise you


End file.
